Today is the day you set a list of short-term and long-term fitness goals, whether you are a woman, man, or beginner.
Some of the best short-term and long-term fitness goals are going to follow the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal setup.
This list of fitness goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound, Ethical and Recorded.
There’s just one problem.
You’ve been to this rodeo before. You’ve tried year after year to get the body you’ve always wanted but always ended up short. Last year, you said you were going to lose 25 pounds in 6 months, work out, and eat healthy 6 days a week. It was supposed to happen. It never did.
You started off in the right direction. You ate healthy and worked out. After a single month though, the excuses began to trickle into your mind, eventually becoming manifest into reality.
“I don’t have time to get to the gym today.”
“I don’t want to work out at a place where everyone will be judging me.”
“This small piece of chocolate cake is only a few extra calories.”
“I’m definitely going to eat healthier tomorrow.”
Your excuses build up. You stop working out and eating healthy. It’s only February 2nd. You gave it a shot but your trial has passed. It’s back to real life for me. I’ll try again next year.
It’s time to figure out why this keeps happening year after year.
Why do I set a goal to lose 25 pounds, only to lose 6 pounds?
Why do I tell myself I’m going to work out and eat healthy 6 days a week, only to do it for 2-3 days a week?
A lot of your journey towards failure has to do with your goal setting and goal attaining strategies. This year your fitness goals are going to follow the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. strategy.
Let’s pick a smarter fitness goal example and see if it checks out. “I want to see defined abs by June 1st.”
#1 Your goal should be Specific.
Be specific with your list of fitness goals. Try to set a goal that is personally meaningful to you. The goal “losing 25 pounds” has no meaning. It’s a vague, unspecific, random number that you’re shooting for. Are you losing 30 pounds of fat and putting on 5 pounds of muscle? Why exactly did you pick that number? By saying you want to see defined abs, you are being very specific.
#2 Your goal should be Measurable.
In this case, you can measure your goal using skin calipers to measure your body fat percentage. For men, you need 6-9% body fat to see your abs. For women, you need 16-19% body fat to see your abs. This goal is very measurable. You can check your body fat on a weekly basis. By doing this, you can easily make sure you’re on the right track.
#3 Your goal should be Attainable (but moderately difficult).
If you take the average body fat loss of 1-2 pounds of fat lost per week, will you achieve your goal by the allotted time period? Do you have a workout and eating schedule that will make this happen?
Not only should you be able to achieve the goal, but the goal should be moderately difficult to achieve. 35 years of empirical research found that task difficulty, measured as probability of task success, was related to performance in a curvilinear, inverse function. The highest level of effort occurred when the task was moderately difficult, and the lowest levels occurred when the task was either very easy or very hard.
So make your short or long term fitness goal attainable but moderately challenging if you want success.
#4 Your goal should be Relevant.
Is this goal you’ve set for yourself actually important to you or is it just a hope or wish? Are you fully committed to the goal that you won’t let anything between you and achieving it? If you don’t have any emotional attachment to the goal, it probably will not get achieved.
#5 Your goal should be Time-Bound.
If today is January 1st, you have 5 months to make your goal. Does your math check out? Highlight the date on your calendar. Put a sticky note on your computer that says June 1st to remind you of your goal. Look at it as often as you can to keep the goal front and center on your mind.
#6 Your goal should be Ethical.
Don’t set a goal that disturbs your moral fabric, no matter the reward. If you’re scheduled for a body building competition and you know that taking an illegal substance can push you over the edge to possibly take the crown, stick with your conscience and keep it clean. I’m sure you have heard of several professional athletes who every day regret the fact that they took steroids to get an edge on their competitors just to achieve seemingly unattainable records.
#7 Your goal should be Recorded.
As you put together your list of fitness goals, write them down. You have a much greater chance to achieve a goal that is written down.
According to Mike McCormick’s book, What They Don’t Teach You in Harvard Business School, in 1979, new graduates from Harvard’s MBA Program were questioned to see if they had set clear goals and made plans to accomplish them. 3% had clear, written goals with plans to accomplish them. 13% had goals but did not have them written down. 84% did not have any goals. The 3% who had clear goals written down were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% put together.
Like I previously mentioned, write your goal down and keep it in a place where you can see the goal on a daily basis. Your odds of achieving them go way up.
According to the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. chart, our goal checks out. Make sure your goal does, too, if you want to achieve success. I would like to propose you add 1-3 of these additions to your S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals. Your odds of achieving them will go way up with a little outside help.
#8 Find a friend who wants to achieve the same goal.
You are far more likely to achieve your fitness goal if you have someone with you to hold yourself accountable. Lift together, run together, do your ab workouts together, and make this an excellent addition to your New Year’s resolutions. Measure each other’s body statistics and track your progress together over time. If one person starts to slip, it’s up to the other to keep that person in line.
#9 Hire a personal trainer.
What’s better than to get the help of someone whose job it is to make sure you achieve your goals safely and effectively? They’ve likely trained hundreds of clients and know exactly what you need to get you where you want to go. They know exactly how to measure you and track your progress. What’s more, you are much more likely to stick to something if you are paying your hard earned money for it.
#10 Join a community of like-minded people.
If it’s accountability you need, then find a group on Facebook, on the meet-up app/site, or anywhere the people are going through something like what you’re going through and can root you on. Set goals as a group or team of people, along with your own goals.
One study found that athletes in the team goal–setting condition held higher perceptions of cohesion than athletes in the control condition. Team goal setting was an effective team-building tool for influencing cohesiveness. Moreover, you can get tips and advice from people that have done it before. When someone has your back, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.
Now that we know how our goals should be structured, let’s go over:
A List of 15 Short-Term and Long-Term Fitness Goals for Women, Men, and Beginners
1. Detox the body and complete a 30-day Juice Cleanse
2. Lose 30 pounds of fat in 6 months
3. Do 30 pushups in 30 seconds by month 3
4. Become a size 8 in 4 months
5. Bike 1000 miles in 1 month
6. Complete a Tough Mudder
7. Golf 14 days in a row
8. Complete a 5k by the end of next month
9. Complete a decathalon this year
10. Bench press my body weight in the next 6 months
11. Finish a marathon by the end of the year
12. Plank for 2 minuts straight by month 2
13. Become a yoga instructor by the end of the year
14. Jump 36″ by the end of the summer
15. Swim 1000 laps in 3 months
Summary: A List of 15 Fitness Goals for Women, Men, and Beginners
Setting up a list of fitness goals is crucial to your success, whether you are a woman, man or beginner. I work out in the gym on a daily basis. When January 1st hits, the gym gets a large influx of new people. I can usually expect the gym traffic to calm back down to normal about 3 weeks after January 1st.
This is unfortunate and very sad to me. So many people want to make a change, but their goals are often vague, not relevant, or seemingly unattainable. Some people may have a good goal in their head, but have no idea how to achieve it. They give up before they really begin.
Until you start digging a little deeper into the best methods and strategies to achieve your goals, you will undoubtedly end up with New Year’s resolutions that will quickly and surely fall short.
What are your goals? Do you have trouble achieving them? Let me know below!
